Virginia Tech had wanted to wait until tomorrow to make a call on Saturday’s scheduled home game with East Carolina. ECU officials, however, did not want to wait, and on Tuesday evening Virginia Tech announced that East Carolina officials informed them the game was off, because the Pirates will not make the trip to Blacksburg.
Check out this wording in Virginia Tech’s press release:
Tech officials had planned on waiting until Wednesday before making a determination on the status of Saturday’s game in hopes that the contest could still be safely played as scheduled once more definitive information on the storm’s projected track and anticipated impact on Southwest Virginia became available.
And then there’s this quote from Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock:
“We will do what’s best for Virginia Tech moving forward as it relates to ECU and to the game. We certainly understand the need for safety, of course, we just felt that tomorrow, making the decision then, would’ve been more responsible and accurate. We informed ECU of this multiple times.”
Virginia Tech’s statement indicated the game could possibly be rescheduled. The 13th-ranked Hokies are off on Oct. 20, but host Georgia Tech the following Thursday, Oct. 25. East Carolina is off on Oct. 27.
Said ECU in its press release:
The safety and welfare for everyone in the path of this storm is the University’s main priority and decisions regarding athletics events are made in the best interest of ensuring the safety of student-athletes, coaches, staff and their families. In fact, all ECU athletics teams are prohibited from traveling for competition purposes this weekend. This is also consistent with the NCAA’s requirement that member institutions protect the health of and provide a safe environment for student-athletes.
East Carolina also stated they would like to reschedule the game at some point this season.
The weekend of Dec. 1 is also an option in the event neither team makes their respective conference championship games.
